DESCRIPTION (Taken from the applicant's abstract): The APS Conference on the "Integrative Biology of Exercise," is scheduled for September 21-23, 2000 in Portland, Maine. The Conference is expected to attract approximately 600 scientists to share in discussions about the integrative aspects of exercise. The Conference is the third in a highly successful series held each four years (1992, Colorado Springs; 1996, Vancouver, BC) and has many of the same design features, modified however by scientific progress, the desire to feature younger investigators, (especially females), and by more time for unopposed attendee poster research presentations. In contrast to large, multi-society meetings like the Experimental Biology meeting, there is an exclusive focus on exercise, cast across a wide spectrum of organ systems and integrative levels, providing a critical mass of scientists with a common interest, yet very interdisciplinary skills to share. In contrast to the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), there will be a focus on basic science. Major themes highlighted by symposia will be gender-related differences in exercise; effects of aging on exercise, and the interaction between exercise and obesity. There will be symposia addressing adaptation to exercise in heart and skeletal muscle. All will have heavy emphasis on cellular and molecular aspects in the context of intact physiological systems. One third of the 50 invited speakers are female, and 40% are at the assistant or associate professor level. There will be a strong student awards program (12 awardees to be selected on the basis of merit). This conference has the goal of providing the only focused meeting with critical mass on fundamental research in exercise physiology so that researchers from different disciplines can share their expertise.